Summer Fun
by C.Queen
Summary: Summer has arrived and the Potter and Weasley kids can't wait to have some fun with each other and their friends. Full of short story fun, hope you enjoy!
1. Fun At The Beach

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Everything else belongs to someone else and that's the way it's gotta be according to the lawyers.

Fun At The Beach

Domi skipped happily beside her maman's side, not even annoyed that she'd been ordered to hold her little brother's hand so that he couldn't wander off. They were at the beach! She'd made a kite to fly, and she was finally going to get to show off her new bathing suit which had been the most beautiful bathing suit in the whole store. It was even better than her big sister's no matter what Victoire said. Her bathing suit was a tie-dye two piece with all the colors of the rainbow! That was way better than just purple, which her sister had picked because it was Teddy favoritest color.

Giggling at the thought of her sister's crush Domi sent a mischievous look in Victoire's direction, knowing the girl hated to be teased about the fact that Teddy just treated her like a cousin.

The little blonde lost her grin moments later though when a strong gust of wind blew her kite out of her hand, sending it whirling away from her as she gave a yelp of distress.

Victoire smirked. "Well at least you know it will probably fly now."

"Go get it, Domi. Louis, you will stay here with us."

Dropping her brother's hand, he wouldn't dare disobey their maman, Domi took off after her kite, yelling at it as it kept blowing out of her reach. Stupid kite!

She was so busy muttering at it that she didn't notice the kite had landed on someone's foot at first. Then the kite was rising up and Domi got a look at the little boy holding it, her eyes going huge.

He looked to be about her age, but there were horrible scars on his neck and cheek and he had the saddest golden eyes she'd ever seen in her almost eight years of living.

When he silently held out her kite to her Domi blinked and then hurried over to take it from him, embarrassed to be caught staring. "Thank you very much for grabbing my kite for me. It just kept getting away from me. I'm Dominique Weasley. What's your name, and how did you get those scars?"

The boy opened his mouth to answer her and then closed it again, looking down at his feet.

"Hello there, Miss. Dominique. This is my son Christopher Worden." A man said as he came over to join them, dropping a hand on his son's thin shoulder. "And he can't talk to you because of the scars on his throat, I'm afraid. I'm sure he's very sorry he can't, you being such a pretty girl and all."

Beaming at the compliment Domi decided she liked both of them. "My papa has scars all over his face and neck too." She told the boy, thinking he might be embarrassed about them. "He gots attacked by a very bad werewolf. He's not a werewolf though cause the guy that hurt him wasn't a wolf at the time. Did a bad man hurt you too?"

"Actually...it was a group of werewolves that did this. His mother was killed."

Eyes going wide at the thought Domi opened her mouth to ask if the bad people had made the boy a werewolf too but she somehow knew, in her gut, that they had. They'd made the poor boy a werewolf and killed his maman too.

Tears welling up at the thought Domi dropped her kite and moved forward, wrapping her arms around the startled little boy's waist. "I'm real sorry they hurt you and took your maman away from you. They were big, dumb, stupidheads and I hope they gots fleas!"

Slowly the boy's arms came up and hugged her in return, unable to express his thanks any other way.

"DOMINIQUE!"

Jumping at the sound of her name being called, she knew that tone of voice, Domi let the little boy go. "That's my maman. That's her 'You better get over here right now' voice."

Picking up her kite from the ground Domi studied it for a moment and then looked back at the boy who was shyly looking at his feet again. Making a snap decision she moved closer again and held it out towards him. "I want you to have my kite. I made it myself and it will make you happy. And next time, maybe we can play with it together, kay?"

Eyes wide the boy accepted the gift with a smile and nod.

Giving him a quick kiss on the cheek good bye Domi said good bye to them both and then took off running towards where she'd left the rest of the family, not wanting to keep them waiting any longer.

She hoped she got to see the little boy again someday.

He'd seemed really nice.

)

Walking at his mother's side as he helped her look for the ideal place for them to sit Rory frowned, disappointed that the beach was so crowded already. He liked it best when there were very few people, but it was so hot out that maybe most of them would stay in the water. That would suit him just fine. He didn't like the beach because of the water, what he loved was making sandcastles and sculptures. Even though he was only five he was better at both than a lot of the bigger kids, which he liked too.

And then a piece of luck had him focusing on one particular spot as the sun rays turned a familiar blonde head into something truly beautiful. It almost looked like the other little boy had a halo, Rory thought with a grin, and such a thing would never suit this classmate of his.

"Mum, can we sit over there? I see a friend from school."

Unable to deny her baby anything because he so rarely asked for anything, Mrs. Goyle nodded her head and followed her son as he ran over to join a child whose gender she wouldn't have known was male if not for the fact that she recognized him as Louis Weasley.

"Hi, Louis."

Looking up from the sand he was compiling Louis's face broke out into a wide grin. "Wotcher, Rory! You've come to play with me, then? Or are you just stopping by?"

"I can play with you, my mum's right over there." Rory pointed to where his mother was setting down her towel and beach bag. "What about you? Who are you here with?"

"I'm here with my maman and sisters." Louis pointed to where three identical lawn chairs were set up, three nearly identical blondes, if you discounted the difference in ages, were stretched out on them. "They're working on their tans while I build my castle." Plus they wanted to show off their bathing suits, which was why they hadn't just stayed home.

"You're building a castle?" Rory stared down at the large pile of sand in front of the boy that was patted down in some places, but definitely didn't resemble any castle he'd ever seen.

"It's a work in progress." Louis sniffed, his bottom lip sliding out in a pout. "And I just started cause I had to gather lots of decorations first. See?" Grabbing his bright blue bucket Louis showed the other boy that it was full of feathers, shells and pretty rocks.

Sensing that he was in potential hot water with the very volatile blonde Rory asked if he could help him with the castle, knowing that it would probably end up looking rather weird, but it would be a lot more fun to make one together.

"Okay." And knowing his strengths Louis informed the dark haired boy that he would put him in charge of building the castle, but he was in charge of decorating.

Happy with that Rory accepted the deal and soon the boys were working away at their shared castle, Louis absolutely delighted with the emerging results as he'd never had that much luck building castles that didn't require a lot of decoration to look good. Rory obviously knew what he was doing and Louis just plain liked the other boy who didn't talk a lot but was always nice to him.

They were well into their project when a group of older looking boys approached them, the way they were looking at the castle making it clear that they had every intention of stomping it to bits in front of them. And both having a lot of experience with such people Rory and Louis moved in tandem to stand in front of their creation, informing the other boys that they wouldn't let them wreck it.

Unfortunately said boys seemed to see this as a challenge, moving forward as a pack, coming to a grinding halt the same way.

"Wow, aren't you boys so big and strong." More developed then most girls her age twelve year old Victoire Weasley was quite the sight in her bikini as she smiled at the four boys who were close to her age but nowhere near smart enough to sense the danger she posed. "And so tough, walking around threatening to kick in little boys' sandcastles. Your mothers must be so proud, you pathetic, cowardly trolls."

And with that the girl began to tear the now terrified boys to verbal shreds as she berated them for even thinking of bothering her little brother, informing them that she would stun them and then bury them in the sand close to the tide if they didn't leave before she really gave them what they deserved.

"I want to be just like her when I grow up." Louis whispered to Rory, his pride in his sister's badass-ness obvious on his face.

Somehow, that didn't surprise Rory one little bit.

)

Sev stared at the contents of the tide pool, fascinated by the creatures that were hardy and strong enough to exist in such a precarious environment. The bucket at his side was already filled with specimens he'd liberated from some of the other pools and this particular pool had a lumpsucker he was determined to get his hands on. The problem was that the fish's coloring allowed it to blend in very well with the bottom of the pool and it had disappeared from his sight when he'd turned to get his little net to capture it.

"What are you doing?"

Looking up in surprise Sev stared at the little girl who stood on the other side of the pool with a questioning look on her face. "What are you doing here?"

"Tidal pools are very educational." Rosie Weasley informed him as she walked over to see what was in the bucket at his side. "Why do you have all these guys in your bucket? Were they stranded and you're putting them in this pool?"

"Course not. I'm taking them home with me."

Rosie frowned. "You can't do that, they'll die. These pools are their homes."

"They won't die right away."

"That's not the point!" And snatching up the bucket before he realized what she was going to do Rosie quickly dumped the contents into the pool in front of them.

"HEY! THOSE WERE MINE! I caught them!" Furious with her Sev glared as he got to his feet, going nose to nose with the girl when she did the same. "I don't like you anymore!"

Tears welled up in her eyes but Rosie glared right back at him. "Well I don't like you either! You're mean and nasty to pick on creatures who can't fight back! You're probably so horrible you have a house elf you're really mean to all the time. And I'm a member of SPEW, I'll have you know!"

"You're a member of a throwing up club?"

"I am not! It stands for Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, Stupid!"

"I'm not stupid, you're stupid!"

"You're stupidest!"

And on that note Rosie whipped her head around, smacking him in the face with her reddish brown hair as she marched off in the direction of her parents and little brother. Her exit was ruined however when one of her bright blue water shoes slipped into a crevice and she fell forward, crying out in shock and pain as she hit the rock's surface.

Forgetting that he was mad at her Sev raced to her side to help her sit up, unbearably upset at the sight of tears streaming down her freckled cheeks as she cried over her skinned knees, hands, and sore ankle. Holding her hand Sev called over to her family, who were already on their way having heard her cry out.

Leaving the fussing to her husband Hermione quickly and efficiently dealt with the minor injuries, rolling her eyes at the way Ron was eyeing the little boy holding their daughter's hand so suspiciously. They were only five, for Merlin's sake. But that was Ron for you.

"You ogay?" Three year old Hugo asked his sister gravely, sympathy tears in his own eyes as he watched from their mum's side.

"I'm okay." Rosie assured him, working up a smile for her sensitive little brother before looking over at Sev shyly, her cheeks pink. "Thanks for holding my hand. I'm sorry I called you stupid."

"I'm sorry I called you stupid too. You're the smartest girl in our class."

Rosie beamed at him and Sev couldn't help but smile back.

Ron scowled.

)

Once everything was okay with her daughter Hermione asked Sev where his parents were, not at all pleased when he informed her that his mother knew where he was and that she had said she'd come to get him in a bit. Apparently the woman thought nothing of leaving her five year old to play on the potentially dangerous rocks and Hermione made her mind up then and there that she was keeping the boy with them until the woman appeared so that she could give the twit a piece of her mind.

Her anger tripled ten minutes later when Ron nudged her and pointed behind them, Hermione turning to see a little boy who couldn't be older than Hugo walking nimbly towards them, not an adult in sight.

What the hell was wrong with parents these days?

Ordering her husband to watch the children Hermione hurried over towards the boy, recognizing him when he got close enough for her to make out his features.

Oh dear heavens, it was that boy who refused to play with Hugo at daycare.

Shaking her head at this turn of events Hermione forced a smile onto her face as she got closer, crouching down once she'd reached him. "Hello, Alexei. You really shouldn't be out here without an adult, Sweetie."

"Aunt Callista sent me to get Sev. We're going now."

The kid was related to Sev, Hermione surmised. That so didn't surprise her. And she was so going to give Sev's mother hell as soon as she got her hands on the woman. "I see. Well take my hand now and we'll go over and tell Sev, shall we?"

"I don't need to hold your hand." Was his stubborn answer. "I'm not a baby."

"I don't want you to trip and fall." Hermione pointed to the group of people coming towards them, Sev obviously having recognized who their visitor was. "My daughter did just a few minutes ago and you don't want to get hurt too, do you?"

The little boy's scowl deepened. "She fell cause she's a stupid girl. I'm not a girl."

"Don't you call MY Rosie stupid." Sev informed his little cousin as he pointed his iced lolly at him.

Hermione watched Ron's face darken that much more and prayed for strength even as she took note of the fact that her husband had decided to give the kids the iced lollies they'd packed in their cooler before leaving home. And since she knew very well that Ron had eaten his earlier that meant her darling hubby had given hers to Sev which technically was okay, but he still should have asked first.

He'd probably been trying to distract them with the treats.

"Hi, Alexei." Hugo chirped from his father's arms, looking sad when the boy pointedly ignored him.

Sighing, Hermione paused for a moment to look up towards the heavens and then scooped Alexei up into her arms before the boy had time to realize what she was doing. "Ron, give me Hugo and I'll carry them both off the rocks. Rosie, hold your father's free hand and Sev, you hold Rosie's other hand. No arguing, I'm the boss."

All the children and Ron recognized that tone of voice, immediately accepting that her word was law if they hoped to avoid being tossed into the Atlantic.

Quite content to be carried by his mum Hugo studied the boy who never played with him at daycare or ever said anything nice to him. He'd tried and tried to make friends but Alexei just didn't seem to like him at all. It made him very sad, the curly haired boy thought as he licked his melting lolly, the cold treat suddenly giving him an idea.

"You wanna lick?"

Alexei really wanted to ignore the other boy…but he really wanted a treat too. Looking over at the woman carrying him Alexei gave her his best, most imploring eyes. "You don't have anymore?"

"No, I'm sorry, Alexei, that's it. Why don't you share Hugo's?"

Pouting Alexei briefly considered asking his cousin to share his but knew that wasn't going to happen. Sev never shared anything with anyone unless someone made him.

And then, just to taunt him, Alexei saw Hugo hold out the iced lolly towards him. Drat.

Sighing in resignation Alexei leaned over and took a lick, Hermione adjusting her hold to bring the two closer together as they licked the lolly from either end.

"Hermione, why am I the only one disturbed by the fact that our daughter is holding hands with a Slytherin in the making while our son licks an increasingly smaller lolly with the potential for his tongue to meet the tongue of another soon to be Slytherin who is also male?"

"Oh, Ron, they're only children."

"They're only children NOW, Hermione."

"Really, Ron, I worry about you sometimes."

"Yeah, and someday I'm going to be able to tell you that I told you so."

Hermione smirked. "Anything's possible, I suppose."


	2. Picnic Fun

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters get in.

Note: Al refers to Albus Potter in this fanfic, Albus refers to a reincarnation of Albus Dumbledore.

Picnic Fun

Gellert was not a happy camper. No matter what his parents said he was way smarter than the average five year old and he KNEW picnics were stupid. Who wanted to eat on the ground, seriously? And they were refusing to listen to him point out the likelihood that insects of some sort would at some point either get into their food or as the very least come into contact with it. Eating outdoors was a bad idea! Why was that so hard for them to comprehend? They weren't nearly as ignorant as most of the adults in his life were. Or at least they weren't normally.

Not to mention the worst part of this plan which was the fact that his mother had had to slather lotion onto his exposed skin to keep him from being burned by the bright sun glaring down at them from overhead. Ugh.

So in conclusion this was not one of his mum's best ideas, Gellert silently grumbled to himself. He couldn't say it out loud anymore because his father was bribing him to play along and he did need those potion ingredients unfortunately.

"Gellert."

Because it was part of the deal Gellert faked some enthusiasm. "Yes, Mother?"

"Look over there."

Humoring her Gellert obeyed, looking in the direction she was pointing. Milliseconds later a real smile curved his lips, his brown eyes lighting up with happiness as he stared at the boy who was in the process of helping his parents spread a blanket out over the grass. "Albus."

Running over to the redhead he'd been missing like crazy since kindergarten had ended Gellert couldn't have been more pleased to see that Albus was obviously just as happy to see him, the other boy running to meet him halfway.

"You're finally here. Did you guys find us okay?"

Realizing that this wasn't a chance meeting Gellert looked over his shoulder to give his parents a grateful look before turning all his attention to his closest friend, assuring him that they'd had no problem getting there.

Catching up with their happy son Gellert's parents went over to greet Albus's and set up their own blanket and food, leaving the two boys to sit on the grass and talk excitedly about the books they'd read, the experiments they'd performed, and all the other interesting things that had happened to them since last they'd spoke.

It took effort on their parents' part but food was pushed on both of them soon, both having to be told countless times that they actually had to eat. This was nothing new of course, nor was their bemused pride as they absorbed the sophistication of the boys' language and interests. At least their child had a best friend who was their equal and would go through school with him. That was some relief.

When all the food was consumed Gellert's mother revealed that she'd put together a scavenger hunt list for the boys, complete with prizes if they found everything. She'd deliberately made the list hard since her son tended to get offended if he wasn't treated like he was at least twice his current age. "And if there's a word you don't understand you can come ask one of us."

Both boys looking over the list Albus smiled politely and nodded, Gellert rolling his eyes at the thought.

"We're supposed to find a leaf from an oak tree. I believe I saw a quercus robur in that direction as we were coming here."

Albus's father waited until the two boys had headed off in the direction Gellert had pointed before turning to look at Gellert's mother questioningly. "I take it quercus robur is the latin word for oak tree?"

"I'm guessing, yes. Botany was never my strong suit."

"Yeah…they won't be needing our help."

Both sets of parents nodded in tandem, well used to moments like this. It went with the territory.

)

Tommy watched the two children from a safe distance, amused that they were staying within view of the other. It sort of defeated the purpose of them competing, but it was pretty damn cute. He was still smiling when he picked up on the fact that there was another of his kind nearby. Hmm, interesting. And definitely worth checking out, the elf decided as he followed his senses, eyes widening minutes later when he found the object of his search. The female was sitting on the ground with her back against a large, old tree. She wore multiple earrings in her ears, a black bandana, and a T-shirt that proclaimed 'I Don't Need Your Attitude, I Have One Already'.

Tough words that didn't really go with the barely held in tears swimming in her eyes.

"You all right, Doll?"

The elf's thin shoulders hunched defensively. "I'm fine. Go away."

Normally he wasn't the type to deny a lady, but he also wasn't the kind who'd leave a lady in distress either. So he pulled his handkerchief from the pocket of his pinstriped suit and crouching down offered it to her. "Here, Doll, dry your eyes with this then tell me what's wrong. Maybe I can help. You lost?" That wasn't likely, elves could innately lock onto the location of their masters, but maybe this one didn't have an owner? A free house elf was rare, most worked for someone, but it was possible.

Taking the handkerchief the house elf dabbed at her eyes and then gave it back, her bottom lip quivering until she bit down on it to hide the fact.

"Come on now, can't be as bad as all that. You need a place to stay? You could come home with me if you like."

She gave him a confused look. "Wouldn't your masters be upset?"

Tommy was shaking her head before she'd finished asking her question. "Naw, I don't got no master yet. Well, I sorta do, but he's only five right now so mostly I just make sure he doesn't blow himself up with his experimenting and such. And he probably wouldn't mind you around if you cleaned up after him. I won't do that, so his mum finds out what he's been up to more than he likes."

"Sassy...Sassy's master is only seven. He…Master found Sassy after Sassy's old family threw Sassy away. His parents said he could keep Sassy and Sassy helps out around the house though Master's mum says Sassy doesn't have to do more than she wants to."

"So your name is Sassy, nice ta meetcha. I'm Tommy."

"You talk weird."

"Yeah, cause talking in the third person is so normal. Now how come you're upset, huh?"

New tears started to well in the house elf's eyes. "Master said…Master said we were playing a game and that Sassy was supposed to hide. But that was a long time ago and Master hasn't coming looking for Sassy. Sassy…Sassy thinks perhaps there is no game and Master just wanted to get rid of Sassy."

"I'm sure he didn't ditch ya, and if he did you can always go back to his house. Obviously his parents don't mind having you-."

"Sassy senses him. Master is coming!"

And jumping to her feet the house elf raced around the tree, Tommy following her to see her run towards a redheaded boy, throwing her arms around his waist to hug him tightly.

"Sassy! What's wrong?" The boy hugged her back, eyes narrowing as they met Tommy's. "What did you do to her?"

"Sassy thought Master would never come! Tommy said Master would."

Obviously getting the fact that the other elf hadn't done anything to his elf the boy gave Tommy an apologetic look as he patted Sassy on the back. "Silly girl, of course I came to find you, that's the whole point of hide and seek! Not to mention finding you wouldn't have been at all hard seeing as you were just hiding behind that tree. I'm gonna have to teach you about good hiding places."

Between sniffles Sassy apologized for not hiding right.

"Naw, it's okay, no big. I still have to find Lily, she's really good at hiding. You can help me look, kay? Unless you want to stay and talk to your friend, you know where everyone is, right?"

"Sassy wants to stay with Master."

"You can just call me James you know." But giving a sigh that indicated they had this argument plenty the boy, whose name was James, smiled and took her hand in his. "But okay then, let's go find Lil. You want to come with us? Your name is Tommy, right?"

"It is, but you and the doll go ahead. I gotta keep an eye on two kids of my own."

Accepting the explanation James bid the strangely dressed elf good bye, Sassy doing the same. And then hand in hand the two headed off in the direction the boy had come, obviously searching for the last person to be found.

)

Bored in her hiding place Lily was proud that her brother was having such a hard time finding her, but it wasn't fun waiting either. Being still and quiet was against her nature, and she was tempted to just go looking for her brother instead. Maybe she could even sneak up on him and scare him. That would be fun. But she wanted to win the game too. Wouldn't it be so funny if James had to ask Daddy to find her because he couldn't? James would be so mad and embarrassed if that happened.

Liking that idea she grinned, poking her head out as she looked cautiously over the rim of the hollowed out stump she was currently residing in. There was no sight of James anywhere, just the family of four near her stump who were at the park to picnic too.

Ohhhhh….they had watermelon.

She loved watermelon. She loved it even more than making her brothers look like idiots.

Forgetting all about the fact that her stump was the bestest hiding place ever Lily got to her feet and carefully climbed out of it, looking all around one last time before making a run for it.

The group didn't see her coming until she all but dived behind the father of the group, the sound of her brother calling her name making her hide instinctively.

Eyes wide the four year old boy stared at the redheaded girl who'd appeared from nowhere and was currently hiding behind his dad's back. "Whatcha ya doing?"

"Hush. Don't talk to me." Bracing her hands against the unknown man's back Lily covertly looked around again and then skirted around so that she was looking at the mother of the group, who by virtue of that was the one in charge of the food. "Can I have some wader-melon too, peas?"

"You're Potter's youngest, aren't you?" The father growled at her before his wife could answer.

"Uh huh. Now shush."

Fighting back a grin at the look on her husband's face the woman grabbed a slice of watermelon from the container and held it out, smiling when the redheaded little girl climbed up onto the picnic bench and accepted the treat with a polite thank you.

"You know we're Slytherins, Little Girl."

"Marcus!"

Lily looked up at the man with as thoughtful an expression as a three and a half year old could manage. "I bite."

Watching the girl smile widely to show off her teeth the little boy was very thankful that he and his mother were on the other side of the table, his little brother on the other side of his father and therefore safe too. She definitely looked like a biter to him. But he was no pushover either. "You bite my father and I'll bite you back."

"Young man, you will not bite her! She's just a little girl."

"She started it."

Meeting the boy's gaze Lily wanted to stick her tongue out at him but his mum had given her some watermelon and so she figured she better behave and just let the boy get in trouble.

Not at all happy that she'd gotten him in trouble the boy fumed, crossing his arms in front of him as he glared at her. And then he heard the voices from earlier calling for someone named Lily, and remembering her earlier reaction the boy looked in the direction the voices were coming from and seeing a family with two redheads immediately got up on his seat, cupped his hands, and yelled that she was over here.

"Tattletale!"

Lily stuck her tongue out at the boy and then turned and got off the bench, knowing better than to try to run. Instead she thanked the mum of the group for the watermelon again and then took off towards her family with her slice, her father scooping her up and into his arms as soon as she was within reach.

"Sorry about that, Flint." Harry Potter ruefully called over to the former Quidditch captain.

"You deserve her, Potter." Was the man's nasty reply.

Trusting that his daughter had annoyed the Slytherin quite a bit for however long she'd been hanging out with the Flint family Harry just shook his head, fighting back a grin as he headed off to put some space between their families.

)

They'd packed up all their stuff and were ready to go when James belatedly realized that he was no longer wearing his cap. His mum making him remember where he'd seen it last the redhead assured them he knew where it was and told them to wait while he went to get it. Running over to where he thought he'd left it James didn't have to walk along the nearby pond long before he thankfully spotted the bright blue cap. Picking it up and shoving it into his back pocket since he didn't want to wear it, James made sure it was going to stay there and then started walking back the way he'd come, his eyes happening to land on a group of nearby lily pads. Resting there among the pads was a water lily, fully open and beautiful. He bet his mum would sure like it.

Tilting his head thoughtfully James came to a decision quick, slipping out of his sandals and leaving them on the bank walked over to step carefully into the pond, making a face as his feet squished into the mud. But it wasn't too deep and the water was only slightly past his knees when he got to the lily pads and carefully removed the flower from its resting place, getting as much of the stem as possible.

Cradling it carefully between his hands James made it back up to the bank without trouble, rubbing his feet against the grass to scrape off some of the mud.

And it was when he looked down to see how much mud he'd gotten on him that he saw the strange black blobs clinging to his legs. There were five of them…what were they?

Tucking the lily behind his ear so that his hands were free, James reached down and tried to brush them off without luck, making him frown. Grasping one between his fingers he pulled, whatever it was coming off this time. Bringing it up to study, it slowly dawned on the boy what it was.

Dropping it to the ground with a yelp James started to dance around, too freaked to process the fact that he should be trying to get them off.

"What's wrong with you?"

"LEECHES!"

"Stand still NOW."

Freezing in reaction to the authoritative voice James looked down as he watched the man who'd spoken get down on one knee in front of him, silently marveling at how big the stranger was. His hair was really long and white too, though he wasn't that old. His hair smelled good.

Somehow calmed by that James tried unsuccessfully to see what the man was doing to remove the leeches, feeling the scrape of nails against his skin. It didn't hurt, and as long as he couldn't see the things it wasn't so bad, he decided. "You're getting them off, right?"

"That would be the point, yes."

When the man got back to his feet James studied the blood streaks on his legs, blinking in surprise when water seemed to come out of nowhere to hose them down. Following the line of the spray James studied the man's wand for a second and then craned his neck back to meet his rescuer's gaze. "Thanks. I'm James. Who are you?"

"Wren." Was the man's short reply, his face expressionless. And then bandages magically appeared from the man's wand to wrap around James's legs, covering the small wounds. "When you get home have your mum wash the area with soap and water, just to be on the safe side. That last one had you good."

"Okay." And totally calm now James finally noticed the large black dog sitting patiently nearby, watching them. "Is that your dog? What's his name?"

"Dog."

James gaped at the man. "You can't call a dog 'Dog'! That's stupid. You should call him Sirius after the Dog Star. Or Padfoot. He looks like a Padfoot."

For a moment Wren's lips twitched as though he were fighting a smile. "You expect me to change the name of MY pet because some random little boy with a flower in his hair told me to?"

Blinking in surprise it took James a moment to remember that he had stuck the water lily behind his ear earlier so as not to lose it. He must look so girlie, the horrified boy realized, hastily pulling it out as his cheeks went as red as his hair.

"JAMES! MUM SAYS TO QUIT DAWDLING OR ELSE!"

Turning his head at the sound of his brother's voice James sighed and then turned back to the man who was definitely smirking at him now.

Potter/Weasley pride smarting James moved in close and grabbed the surprised man's hand, setting the water lily there. "This is thanks for helping me. It goes with your hair."

And on that note James grabbed his sandals and then took off towards his waiting family, grinning all the way since he was sure he'd gotten the better of Wren Whatever-his-last-name-was.


	3. Teasing Fun

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters get in.

Note: Grey is Al's nickname for Scorpius, to see why check out my 'Happy Halloween' fanfic.

Teasing Fun

Louis was all but ready to jump out of his skin with eagerness, running ahead of his maman and sisters before being called back because his maman didn't like him out of her sight. She seemed to think that that was inviting trouble ever since he'd tried to fly off their shed. Either way he wanted to tell them to hurry up but knew he didn't dare cause they were bigger and more likely to dress him in girlie clothes in revenge. He also knew that his older sister was as eager to get to Teddy's house as he was but she didn't want to make it obvious for some reason which was just annoying. Girls were weird that way sometimes when it came to boys that they liked, and Victoire really, really liked Teddy. He didn't think Teddy really, really liked Victoire, but the older boy did like them all and was always happy to be with them.

Teddy's grandmother often didn't seem happy to be around them but his maman said that she was a lady who'd been hurt lots of times and so she didn't like loving people other than Teddy. He didn't understand that but he always brought her a pretty shell or stone he found at their beach when he came because she always smiled a little and patted his head, saying he was a good boy.

He liked making her smile, and Teddy always gave him an extra hug for doing it.

And then the cottage came into view, Louis forgetting about his thoughts as he immediately broke into a run, reaching the door before the others and knocking hard with his little fist.

The door was opened promptly by Andromeda, who accepted his happy greeting and pretty pink stone with the barest hint of a smile and her usual pat on his head. The stone went into her pocket and then she informed him that Teddy was in his room and that he could go on up.

Since he was the one who'd begged and nagged his maman into this visit, he had something super, super important to ask Teddy, Louis didn't wait for the girls in his family to catch up, leaving Andromeda to deal with them as he headed up the stairs, keeping a firm hold on the guardrail when Teddy's grandmother ordered him to.

Knowing which room was Teddy's Louis hurried over and knocked, knowing he wouldn't have much time alone with the big boy before his sisters hunted them down.

Entering as soon as Teddy called out to him to do so Louis closed the door firmly behind him before heading over to the middle of the room where Teddy was playing with two of his many pets, the white mouse named Bianca and the light brown one Bernard. "Hey, Teddy."

"Hey, Lou." Reaching out Teddy gave the blonde's hair an affectionate ruffle, setting his mice on his shoulders before giving the little boy a questioning look, having heard that Louis had something important he wanted to ask him in private. "So what's up?"

"I gots a question."

"So I hear."

"I can't ask maman or papa cause they might not like it." Louis confined as he fiddled with his shoelaces before meeting Teddy's gaze. "And Domi and Tori would make fun. But you're big, you'd know and you don't ever make fun of anyone."

Curiosity definitely piqued now Teddy couldn't quite contain his eagerness when he asked what the question was.

"Well…my friend Maxie says that if a lotta girls kiss you on the lips you'll turn into a girl too. Is that true?"

Lips twitching Teddy had to call on his Black side not to laugh, especially since he could see how serious the six year old was about this. And he could remember the days when he'd still believed in cooties and such too. "No, Louis, no matter how many girls kiss you you're never going to become a girl, don't worry."

"I won't? Darn."

Eyebrows shooting up Teddy forgot all about not laughing. "What?"

Pouting visibly Louis rested his chin on his hands, which were braced against his crossed legs. "I figured all the girls in our family like to kiss me anyway, so if I asked they'd kissed me more. Than I could become a girl and marry Rory."

Okay…..

Not at all sure how he was supposed to handle this, Teddy tried to buy himself some time while he figured out what he could or couldn't say that wouldn't get him in a heck of a lot of hot water later with the adults. "Rory is one of your friends from kindergarten, right? He made you that purple flower you like so much." He'd never met the kid, but Louis had mentioned him before.

"Uh huh. Victoire said I can't marry him cause I'm a boy too."

"And you can't talk to your parents about this?" Teddy asked somewhat desperately.

Louis immediately shook his head, sunlight from the window glancing off the shiny strands. "Papa says I keep him sane cause then he's not the only boy in our house. He wouldn't want me to be a girl. And maman wouldn't like it either, cause I'm her little man."

Picking his mice off his shoulder to set them on the floor Teddy wished they could talk and give him advice on how to handle this. But of course they couldn't and since he was on his own and it was obviously so very important to Louis Teddy sighed and prayed this wasn't going to come back and bite him in his butt. "I'm gonna tell you a secret we big boys know but you aren't allowed to tell anyone, okay? You gotta promise you won't tell anyone."

Eyes lighting up Louis immediately spit in his palm and held it out, Teddy doing the same and shaking the boy's hand. "I won't tell never!"

"Okay…well the secret is…if you still want to marry Rory when you're all grown up you can, even if you are both boys. But you have to be grown ups, you can't get married till then."

"I can?! Really!"

"Really."

"Wahooo!" And throwing himself into Teddy's chest the two fell backwards in a heap, both laughing while the mice squeaked in their version of laughter as well.

)

Drinking her lemonade Victoire wished her maman hadn't made it so clear that she wasn't allowed to go up to Teddy's room until it was clear that whatever secret conversation he was having with her stupid little brother was over. It wasn't fair, she wanted to be with Teddy too. And though the kittens her sister was currently playing with were awfully cute and adorable she liked Teddy even more, even if he did treat her the same as all her other cousins.

"You shouldn't frown, what if your face got stuck like that?"

Turning at the teasing voice Victoire immediately broke into a smile as Teddy took a seat beside her, Louis joining Domi on the floor to play with the kittens. "Hi, Teddy."

"Hey." Grinning back at her Teddy reached out and gave one of her cheeks a teasing pinch. "So what had you scowling before? Domi couldn't have been hogging all the kittens, there's five of them and she's only got two hands."

"I wasn't scowling." She informed his prissily, not wanting to admit that he was the reason.

"You were too. And if your face stuck like that you'd never get your big princess wedding that you've been planning since you knew what a wedding was. No guy wants to marry a girl that looks like she's been sucking on lemons."

To Victoire's way of thinking she was perfectly in the right to dump what remained of her lemonade on his head.

)

Al needed a nap. He was tired and hot and he did not want to hold his brother's hand as they walked with their father towards the Daily Prophet. But his mummy had forgotten some important papers or something at home and she'd asked them to come and bring them to her so he was stuck. Well she'd asked da to bring the papers but he had to bring them too since Sassy was helping Gran with some canning at the Burrow and they weren't big enough to stay home alone. And while normally he liked going to visit him mummy at work he'd much rather be home, especially since his brother deliberately kept widening his stride to try and match their father's, his own legs unable to keep up and thus stumbling in the attempts.

So no, he was not in a good mood.

And his mood only darkened when his father spotted some people who looked very upset, his da ushering him and James off to the side before telling them to look at the display in the nearby window. That done he walked over to talk to the other people who began speaking in a weird language Al didn't understand.

Obviously not pleased at this turn of events James half heartedly kicked the stone building, noticing in the process that his shoe lace was coming undone. Annoyed by that as well James hunkered down to retie it, checking his brother's shoes since he was down there anyway.

"Hey, Al, look, you're on a crack. That means you've broken mum's back, you know."

"I what?"

"You broke mum's back. When you step on a crack you break your mum's back. Everyone knows that."

On that note James turned to look at the display like his father had told him to, completely missing the horrified expression that crossed his little brother's face before Al looked down to confirm the fact that he was indeed standing on a very large crack. In fact, there were loads of cracks around which meant that he must have broken his poor mummy's back lots and lots of times without even knowing it!

Little chest quivering Al bit down on his bottom lip as tears swam around his emerald eyes, falling down his chubby cheeks in big, fat drops as he thought about how mad everyone was going to be at him for doing something so horrible even though he hadn't meant to.

"Al?"

Turning Al watched as his friend hurried over towards him, a concerned look coming over the blonde boy's face as he got closer.

"What's wrong, did you get stung by a bee?" Scorpius asked as he immediately took his friend's hand, giving it a squeeze. He'd been stung by a bee before and it had hurt really, really bad and he'd had to cry lots.

"I broke my mummy's back, Grey." Al whimpered, more tears coming.

"What?"

"I stepped on a bunch of cracks. I didn't know that breaks your mummy's back." Al's eyes went to his feet, eyes widening with horror as he realized what the other little boy's feet were standing on. Looking up Al's eyes were a mixture of more misery and sympathy. "You just broke your mummy's back too!"

Mouth dropping open in shock Scorpius looked down at his feet, seeing that his shoes were indeed resting on a cracked area. Tears starting to well up in his own eyes as he realized what he'd apparently done there were tears running down both their cheeks when Scorpius's father finally located his runaway son.

"Why are you both crying?" He demanded to know, sharing a dark look with Potter's older boy, who'd finally noticed what was going on and had immediately taken his little brother's hand, moving to stand a little in front of the kid as a sort of shield.

"I broke mother's back." Scorpius blubbered out, Al explaining what had happened since Scorpius couldn't seem to be able to get any more words out.

"Oh for Merlin's sake." Giving the older boy a dark look Draco shook his head and then hunkered down so that he was closer to the eye level of the two traumatized little boys. "You two did not break your mothers' backs. That's just an old superstition that only idiots believe. If you really broke your mother's back every time you stepped on a crack every woman with children in this world would have a broken back and those who didn't would opt not to have children to save their own backs from damage."

Not about to believe Grey's father automatically, Al gave his older brother a questioning look, asking for confirmation that his brother had just been teasing him. Again.

"Don't worry, mum's fine." James assured him awkwardly, having just meant it as a joke. He hadn't meant to make them cry.

Potter/Weasleys, Draco thought with a roll of his eyes, reaching out to pat the heads of both boys since they seemed to still need some reassurance.

Both boys were very relieved now that they knew they hadn't broken a loved one's back, Al lifting up his shirt to wipe off his face while Scorpius's father withdrew a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it over to son to wipe off his.

"Sorry I made you think you'd done something bad." Shuffling his feet Al's eyes were full of apology. "I didn't know James was just joking."

"It's okay." And since Al looked like he needed a hug, and he needed one too, Scorpius moved forward and wrapped his arms around his friend's waist, Al letting go of James's hand so that he could do the same.

"Babies." James announced, rolling his eyes expressively.

"Potter." Draco returned, making that sound as bad as being labeled a baby.

Thankfully for all involved Harry arrived just in time to prevent the two from discussing which was the bigger insult.

)

Sitting side by side with her little brother Rosie happily ate her large slice of watermelon, Hugo doing the same. They were on their grandparents' back porch so that they could spit out the seeds, competing to see who could spit them the farthest. It wasn't surprising that she was winning, but Hugo was doing pretty good and was only three, Rosie thought, so the fact that he understood they were competing showed that he was almost going to be as smart as she was when he grew up.

Taking another big bite Rosie smiled as she found it contained a couple seeds, one of which she accidentally swallowed, but the other she shot pretty far. Grandpa had said that the seeds they were spitting would turn into even more watermelons, and she liked the idea of the back lawn being full of watermelons like the ones her grandparents grew in their garden.

Hearing the sound of the screen door being pushed open Rosie turned her head to watch her grandpa come out, probably to check on them. "Hi, Grandpa."

"Hello, Pretty Flower." He responded, winking at her as he came over to take a seat beside Hugo, ruffling the boy's curls. "So you two working hard to give me a watermelon yard, then?"

Both nodded with big smiles, more than happy to help.

"That's good. After all, I wouldn't want you accidentally eating any of those seeds."

Mouth halting as Rosie forgot all about taking another bite, the little girl giving her grandfather a puzzled look. "How come we can't eat them?" They were really little after all, you'd have to be a baby to choke on them. Plus they didn't taste bad the way some seeds did.

"Well because if you swallow them they'll start growing inside your stomach until they become watermelons."

Eyes going wide Rosie remembered the seeds she'd already swallowed, both that day and before. Did…did she have watermelons growing in her tummy? What would happen when they got too big to all fit?

"MUMMY!"

Getting to her feet Rosie was across the porch before her grandfather could speak, running through the open door and not stopping until she arrived at the kitchen where her mother and grandmother were talking.

"Mummy! Grandpa says watermelon seeds will grow in my tummy and become watermelons! I don't want watermelons to grow in my tummy!"

Rolling her eyes Hermione set aside her iced tea and then bent down so that she was eye level with her daughter, putting her hands on the girl's shoulders to keep her in place as she explained that her father had just been joking with her and that seeds couldn't actually grow in people's tummies because there was no sun in there to help them grow.

Considering this and what she knew about plants Rosie nodded, pouting a little since she didn't appreciate being made to look silly.

"Don't worry, Sweetie, people have believed far sillier things, even adults." Rosie's grandmother assured her, knowing that her granddaughter was just like her mother in terms of hating having her intelligence called into question. "A long, long time ago people actually believed that the world was flat and that if you didn't say 'Bless you' after someone sneezed that person's soul could be stolen by the devil."

While Rosie marveled over that the other two women turned to give the girl's grandfather looks as he came into the kitchen with Hugo in his arms, the unconcerned little boy still working away on his slice of watermelon.

Clearing his throat he nodded towards the window. "It's…uh…starting to rain cats and dogs out there."

"Mummy, how come people say that when the rain is water, not cats and dogs?"

Even though she knew the answer to the question Hermione opted not to explain, thinking the answer just a little too morbid for one so young to hear. "I'll look that up and get back to you."

"Okay, Mummy."

)

Note: For anyone who's interested the phrase 'It's raining cats and dogs' is a British saying that has to do with the fact that during the time the saying came about London's streets had a great deal of stray cats and dogs wandering them. Animals that would end up drowning thanks to heavy rains so that their bodies would be found littering the streets afterwards, as though they'd come with the rain.


	4. Ice Cream Fun

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the plot. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it.

Note: I added Rorake to Gabrielle's family so I could add her to this. Plus I figured they'd make adorable siblings heh.

Ice Cream Fun

Standing in line to get ice cream Rosie was as exasperated with her father as her mother was. It was almost their turn to order and he still hadn't arrived with Hugo. From the way her mummy was looking at the clock hanging nearby it was well past the time they were supposed to meet them here and if they didn't hurry they'd have waited in line for nothing. And if that happened her mother was going to be even madder than the time Uncle George turned daddy into an orange turtle for four days by accident.

"Oh he better have a good excuse." Hermione muttered as she checked the time again. If he blamed the delay on Hugo again she was going to really let him have it. Hugo was one of the most well behaved children on the planet, thank you very much.

"Can I take your order?"

Not about to move back to the end of the line or hold it up Hermione decided she'd order for her boys and if they didn't like what she picked out for them they were welcome to get in line and buy something else. After her husband repaid her for buying him the ice cream in the first place, Hermione silently added with a gleam in her eyes that did not bode well for Ron.

Giving three of the four orders to the man behind the counter, Hermione then lifted her daughter up to see the latest experimental ice creams, which Rosie always loved to try. Hermione blamed her nephew Al entirely for convincing her daughter to try weird foods at least once.

"I want the weird looking one that looks furry, like a teddy bear."

Wincing, Hermione sent up a prayer to ever Muggle deity she could think of that the ice cream would be edible before ordering a single scoop cone for Rosie to try.

Once they'd paid and collected their ice cream cones, which came in a special carry-out tray, the two looked around for their menfolk before opting to head outside and wait for them there.

The two taking a seat on a nearby table Rosie accepted her ice cream when her mother handed it over, studying it carefully before giving it a lick, laughing at the way it tickled her tongue. It tasted good too, sorta chocolatey.

And since it really was rude to eat without the rest of your group Rosie looked around them as she neatly licked at her ice cream, a smile breaking out on her face when she spotted a familiar little boy eating a ice cream cone nearby. "Mummy, look. It's Sev! Can I go over and say hi?"

Since seeing the two together pissed her husband off every time Hermione assured her daughter that of course it was all right for Rosie to go over and see her school friend. It served Ron right.

Hurrying over as soon as she had permission Rosie took a seat beside him on the garden's small brick wall, not surprised when he didn't notice her until she did so. He tended to get very absorbed in his food when that food happened to be chocolate in nature.

"Hi, Sev!"

Glancing over Sev's grin widened, pleased to see her as he returned the greeting. Then he caught sight of the ice cream cone she was holding, his eyes widening. "What on earth is that?"

Rosie shrugged her shoulders. "It's good. Wanna taste?"

Staring at the strange, fur like substance on a cone being held out to him, Sev recoiled at the very idea. "No thank you."

Not giving up Rosie waved it in front of him. "It tastes chocolatey."

Damn, the woman knew his mortal weakness. And cursing that fact Sev couldn't help but be very curious as to whether or not the stuff really was edible and tasted of chocolate. She probably wouldn't lie to him, and she'd obviously eaten some which probably meant it wasn't so bad.

So very slowly he moved closer and took a lick, startled by the texture and the fact that it did indeed taste somewhat like his all time very treat. His was certainly better, but hers wasn't bad either.

"Told you it was actually good." Looking smug Rosie gestured towards his cone. "Can I try yours?"

"Sev don't share."

Turning her head Rosie realized that Sev's little cousin was actually sitting nearby, hidden a little from view due to a hedge. "Hello, Alexei." The little brat tended to be mean to her little brother, but he was younger than she was so she couldn't yell at him the way he deserved.

While his cousin ignored Rosie's greeting Sev contemplated the situation he found himself in. Because Alexei was right, he didn't share anything, least of all chocolate. It was against his very nature. Chocolate was his favoritest thing in the whole wide world.

But Rosie Weasley was his favoritest person in the whole wide world.

Seeing that she was looking at him expectantly, wasn't she just so pretty with her pigtailed hair shining in the sunlight, Sev felt himself cave, holding out his cone to her so that she could sample his as well.

Taking a taste Rosie smiled at how yummy it was and over the fact that he'd shared it with her. "It is good. Thanks, Sev for sharing."

The things he did to make her happy, Sev thought with a put upon sigh.

)

Since he didn't think it was really all that nice that Sev was leaving Alexei all by himself to eat his ice cream Hugo walked over towards his classmate, not surprised when he was given a dirty, 'what do you think you're doing' look. The other little boy still didn't like him, which made him sad but just that much more determined to win Alexei over. So he carefully took a seat beside the other boy while leaving a good foot between them, not looking at him but hoping that he wouldn't be asked to leave as he sampled the ice cream his mum had given him moments before.

"Why ya sitting here, Weasley?"

"I wanna sit with you." Hugo volunteered, giving Alexei his brightest, most adorable smile.

"I don't like you."

Shoulders slumping at that blunt statement Hugo fought the urge to tear up over it. He didn't have to be so nasty about it, Hugo thought to himself, turning his attention to morosely licking away at his ice cream cone. He just wanted to be friends. What was so horrible about that?

And then it happened, his tongue licking the side of his treat too hard, sending the single scoop of strawberry ice cream off his cone and onto the ground with a wet thud.

Staring down at his now inedible, quickly melting ice cream, tears really did well up in the little boy's eyes before sliding down his chubby cheeks as he noiseless cried over the cruel fate that had punished him this way for just wanting to make friends with Alexei Dolohov.

Watching this Alexei got the most horrible feeling in his stomach as his eyes tracked those trailing tears out of the corner of his eye.

Frantically he turned to look for the rest of the boy's family, spotting the sister who was talking to Sev. And his cousin obviously sensed his staring because Sev turned his head to give him a look that said there would be hell to pay if he came over there and interrupted him. And he didn't want Sev experimenting on him, the guy wanted to be a potions master when he grew up.

Turning his attention back to the curly haired boy beside him Alexei watched as Hugo nibbled without interest on his cone, obviously trying to distract himself from the loss of the ice cream. It wasn't working though, and the sadness in those big, shiny eyes got to him so that he felt like crying too.

Staring at his own ice cream didn't help either, that just made him feel worse since he had ice cream and the other boy was crying because he didn't.

It was while he was staring though that an idea had occurred to him. He'd asked for two scoops because Sev had teased him earlier about being a baby, but he really couldn't eat that much ice cream, especially since he'd had a really big lunch earlier.

"Let me see your cone." Alexei ordered, before he could talk himself out of it.

Since he didn't really care if the boy stole or wrecked his cone Hugo held it out, eyes widening when Alexei placed his own cone beside it and then carefully used his fingers to push some of his ice cream onto his cone, giving him some.

Licking his now sticky fingers, he hated that, Alexei gave Hugo a look that made it clear that there was to be no commenting on what he'd just done under penalty of death. Not that he knew what death was exactly, but he knew it was bad.

All smiles now as he stared from the ice cream to Alexei Hugo didn't even care that the ice cream he'd just been given was just plain vanilla and had already been partially eaten. Alexei had given him ice cream! No one had made him, so maybe Alexei didn't hate him as much as he said he did. That made him so happy.

And to express that happiness and appreciation Hugo leaned over and gave the boy a smacking kiss on the cheek since he wasn't allowed to say thank you.

Jerking at the unexpected kiss to the cheek Alexei's cone automatically slipped out of his hand, his ice cream and cone hitting the ground with a splat.

Both boys looked down at the new mess, which was right beside the puddle that had once been Hugo's ice cream.

"Uh oh. Sowwy."

Face scrunching up with anger Alexei turned his head and glared at Hugo, who promptly held out the cone he still held to the other boy as both a shield and an apology for accidentally making Alexei drop his cone in the first place.

Snatching the cone out of the other boy's hand Alexei gave Hugo another dark look and then turned his attention to eating the treat as quickly as possible so that nothing could happen to it.

"Hugo, what happened to your ice cream?"

Looking over at his approaching sister, Hugo pointed down to the mess. "It felled."

Shaking her head, which sent her pigtails swinging, Rosie sighed and then held out her hand, Hugo sliding off his seat and toddling over to take it. "We'll go tell Da and he'll get you another one. I'm done mine already."

Since he did want more ice cream Hugo nodded and allowed her to steer him back towards their parents, stopping after a few steps to turn and give Alexei a small wave, his remorse written all over his face for what he'd done.

Clutching his cone with both hands Alexei seemed to debate with himself for several heartbeats before ever so slowly lifting one of his hands up in the briefest of waves before pointedly turning his attention back to eating his ice cream.

)

Walking towards the ice cream shop Gabrielle and Rorake hoped that there wouldn't be a very big line up once they got there. They had to meet their mother very shortly and she'd made it clear that they couldn't be late because then she'd be late getting dinner made and then their father and older brothers would be really mad when they got home too. But they were pretty sure they could make it to the ice cream shop in time and they were walking as fast as Rorake's shorter legs could carry him.

And luck was with them, Gabrielle thought with a smile when she saw that there wasn't a big line up to deal with. The weather had been really hot earlier, but it was really cloudy now and not ideal for ice cream eating.

Since her little brother always ordered the same thing, just like her, Gabrielle also didn't have to worry about the fact that Rory was just too big for her to lift up to see the various kinds of ice cream. So when it was their turn she told the man what they both wanted, watching closely since she was very particular about her ice cream and didn't trust them to make hers and her brother's correctly without proper supervision.

This time she didn't pick up on any mistakes though and when she arrived at the cash register she handed over her money.

"You're a sickle short."

"I am not. That's how much I always pay for our ice creams." Gabrielle announced, double checking that there were no coins left in her pocket just to be on the safe side. She'd counted out the money carefully beforehand and if the man dared to suggest she couldn't count properly she was going to yell at him. She was eight years old after all. Not some little kid.

"The prices went up yesterday."

Oh.

She hadn't anticipated that, and she'd brought what she'd thought was exact change.

Looking down at her brother for a moment Gabrielle didn't have to think hard before turning her attention back to the cashier. "Then we're just getting the birthday cake cone. I don't have enough."

"No. You keep yours, I don't want mine." Rorake announced, following what was going on. The money paying from the ice cream was his sister's after all, not his. It wasn't fair for her not to get her treat. He didn't want the ice cream that much anyway, he told himself, though he really did.

"I'm the oldest, what I say goes."

"The twins are the oldest." Rorake shot back. "I won't eat mine so you get yours."

How long the argument would have gone on for, probably quite a while given the hardness of their heads, would remain unknown due to the fact that a boy about Gabrielle's age walked over and placed a sickle on the counter, shoving it over to add it to the pile of coins Gabrielle had already handed over.

"There, now you have enough for both." Winking at her Fred Weasley was quite pleased with the situation he'd stumbled upon. "Hi, Elle."

"I told you not to call me that."

"Awww, is that any way to talk seeing as I just helped you out?"

Annoyed that he had a point Gabrielle wanted to refuse his money on principle, but if she did that she and Rory would keep arguing over who got ice cream and who didn't, insuring that they ended up being late to meet their mother, who wasn't above rescinding the allowance money that would pay for future ice cream. So instead Gabrielle fought back the instinctive urge to tell him what he could do with his sickle and instead forced herself to say thank you.

Words spoken, Gabrielle gave him her back, took her and her brother's ice cream from the cashier, and then handed Rorake his while pretending that the boy no longer existed in her world.

"Thanks." Rorake knew his big sister didn't like Louis's cousin very much, he was always teasing her, but he thought the boy nice enough. Apparently he never let anyone else tease her too, and had even picked fights with his older brothers for not being nice to her.

Of course Elle was tough enough to handle those idiots by herself, but it was nice that he was willing to help.

"We need to be going, our mother is waiting for us."

Not put off in the slightest by the bite in her tone, he was used to it, Fred simply fell into step with the Goyle siblings as they headed for the exit.

Cursing the fact that she couldn't slam the door on his stupid head Gabrielle had to settle for giving him death glares as she held her cone in one hand and her brother's hand in the other. Oh if only her hands were free. "Are you stalking me again?"

"Nope. After all, how was I to know you were coming here?"

"And the fact that we went right past your dad's store on the way here?" Gabrielle countered, not buying his innocent routine for a moment.

Fred just smiled, not betraying for a moment that he had spotted her walking past with her brother and had covertly chased after her without even telling his parents he was leaving the joke shop.

What could he say, there was just something about her nastiness that he found highly appealing.

Plus watching her yell at her older brothers was vastly entertaining too at school.

"You like my sister, don't you?"

While Gabrielle stared down at her brother in horror Fred grinned at him and confirmed that yes, he did indeed like her a lot.

"I thought so. I like Louis." Rorake admitted shyly.

"And he likes you too." Fred assured him, lips twitching as he thought about how various adults in his family had reacted when they'd found out that Louis had drawn a heart around Gabrielle's brother in their kindergarten school picture.

It had been quite hilarious.

Resolutely turning her attention to her ice cream as the two boys continued to chat, Gabrielle silently repeated to herself over and over again that eventually she'd be going to Hogwarts and that when that happened she be taught all kinds of cool spells and stuff.

If the powers that be were kind, she'd find the Chamber of Secrets and be able to push Fred Weasley into it.


	5. Wedding Fun

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters end up in. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy it.

Wedding Fun

James and Al Potter had never been more embarrassed or mortified in their whole entire lives. If not for the fact that they'd been promised lots and lots of cake they would have refused to come to the wedding on the principle of the point. And if theIr male cousins weren't being equally humiliated by their parents the Potter boys were going to take off the skirts they were being forced to wear and just walk around in the shorts they were wearing underneath.

Heck, being naked was preferable to looking like girls.

Their mum could call them kilts all she wanted, they weren't buying it. They were skirts and even though they were being bribed as they'd never been bribed before James and Al were a chocolate frog away from taking them off and suffering the consequences.

They were even willing to risk their Gran's wrath.

Well aware of the thoughts running through her sons' heads Ginny sighed, praying that her siblings and in laws had successfully bribed their male children into wearing the kilts too. If not she was in a world of trouble soon.

"We were supposed to be able to wear our Quidditch jerseys." James muttered for the millionth time, his arms crossed stubbornly in front of him as he deliberately dragged his feet, his little brother copying him.

"I know, Sweetie. Believe me I know." And it didn't help that both she and her husband were wearing their Gryffindor Quidditch uniforms while their sons were stuck wearing the kilts her mum had bought all her grandchildren for the wedding. Apparently the kilts were far more appropriate wedding attire as far as Molly Weasley was concerned, and only those standing up with the soon to be married couple should be Quidditch themed.

No one had dared argue with her mum about it either, not when her last child was finally getting married after years and years of nagging and not at all subtle hinting. Especially given the fact that her mum hadn't been able to control this one the way she had the others.

Poor Charlie, though she gave him credit for putting his foot down where their mum was concerned. Naturally their mum hadn't liked the fact that Oliver's mother had mostly been in charge of this wedding, but Charlie had made it clear that it was only fair as the woman only had one child and she'd been planning Oliver's wedding to Charlie since the day she'd learned there was a man her son was actually serious about that she approved of.

And even if Charlie hadn't intervened Mrs. Wood was just like her son. Not even her own mum would stand a chance against someone that goal oriented.

Shaking her head at the thought Ginny's eyes happened to land on two familiar figures walking towards her, the sight of Teddy's attire bringing a huge smile on her face and made her believe that maybe the fates didn't hate her after all.

"Boys, there's Teddy."

Immediately turning their heads in the direction she was pointing Al and James' faces both lit up, especially when they saw that Teddy was wearing a skirt too, though his was a different color than their own. But he was wearing one too, and if their big brother thought that was okay then it was okay with them.

While their boys greeted each other Andromeda turned her attention to Ginny, her tone that of a teacher with an unruly student. "A lady does not point, Ginevra."

"Yes, Ma'am." Instantly transported back in time by the older woman's tone of voice, she'd heard it plenty whenever the woman had caught her and Harry snogging when they'd been babysitting or spending time with Teddy, Ginny worked up a weak smile. "I was just so happy to see the both of you."

Doing her best not to let her amusement show Andromeda simply inclined her head towards the two boys her grandson considered his brothers. "I assume James and Albus are not thrilled to be wearing kilts."

"You have no idea."

)

Standing with his sisters Louis rocked back and forth on his heels, pleased to see that thus far he and his sisters were the best looking kids there. Plus a lot of people who didn't know them had done double takes over him, commenting that they'd thought he was a girl, he was so pretty in his kilt. Which suited him just fine, Louis thought smugly, since he knew how much Rory liked pretty things. And when he got bigger he was going to be even prettier than his sisters and then Rory would love him forever and ever.

They'd get married too, just like Uncle Charlie and Uncle Oliver. He forgot that they were a couple sometimes cause they worked in two different countries and he didn't see them much unless it was a special holiday. But now they were getting married and they were both boys, just like him and Rory.

He was going to be the prettiest bride ever when he got big.

"So are you going to try and catch the bouquet, Victoire?" Domi teased, wiggling her eyebrows at her older sister. "Then maybe Teddy will marry you."

As she was still sore over the comment Teddy has made about her face sticking in bad expressions Victoire just sniffed at the idea, refusing to let her little sister get to her. "They're both boys, you silly goose. They won't have bouquets."

Though if one of them did…maybe she'd try to catch it. Just for fun.

"They will if Uncle Oliver's mum says they gots to have flowers." Louis pointed out, having heard from Lily and Hugo how intimidating the woman was. His two youngest cousins were in the wedding party and apparently Oliver's mummy was scary.

Having heard the same things Louis had about Uncle Oliver's mum both girls had to admit that their brother had a point. And imagining the tough, brawny men with bouquets was pretty funny.

All three had to giggle a little at the image.

"Hey, Guys!"

Turning their blondes head in tandem the two younger siblings waved as Teddy, Al and James came running towards them in their kilts too, Teddy's grandmother and Aunt Ginny following behind them, telling them not to run. For her part Victoire refused to wave at Teddy, thought she did smile so as not to be rude.

She didn't want Teddy's grandmother to give her a lecture about the importance of good manners after all. She hadn't met Uncle Oliver's mum yet, but she was willing to bet that not even she was tougher than Teddy's grandmother.

No one was.

Taking her lack of acknowledgement to mean he was still in the dog house where she was concerned, Teddy sighed, wishing that Victoire wasn't so touché these days. She'd completely lost her sense of humor since she'd become obsessed with behaving like her mother and other grown up girls she admired. Not that Victoire hadn't always been really girlie, but she'd been a lot more fun to play with before she'd hit the double digits age wise.

It made him really worry about how much more trouble Lily was going to become when she got older. She was already a handful and a half.

And he didn't see why he had to apologize to her until she forgave him either, Teddy thought as he resolutely crossed his arms in front of him. He'd already apologized four times and if she didn't want to accept any of them then…then that was just fine with him. He wasn't going to do it again.

"Uh oh…that could end very badly." Ginny said just loudly enough for Andromeda to hear as she watched her boys interact with their cousins. She knew her godson's body language very well after all. Teddy was very mature for his age but he had the Black genes in spades when it came to pride and stubbornness.

Having known both children since they were born Andromeda was sure that her grandson would be able to hold out longer than Victoire and said so.

"It's what will happen until then that I'm worried about."

)

Walking down the deserted hallway Lucy didn't know what to do. She'd called out a couple of times and nobody had answered. The wedding was supposed to start soon, and everyone would be really mad at her if she delayed it because she'd gotten lost in the very big house the wedding was being held in. Well her Uncle Charlie and Uncle Oliver wouldn't be mad, they never got mad at her, but their mums would be mad at her, as would her own. She hadn't meant to get lost, she'd just needed to use the loo. She'd remembered where it was from the day before but when she'd come out this time she'd gotten turned around.

Where was everybody?

Twisting the hem of her kilt nervously Lucy gasped in dismay when she realized what she was doing, quickly letting go. She'd be in even more trouble if she messed up her pleats!

"You alright there?"

Jumping a good foot in the air Lucy whirled around to find that she was no longer alone in the corridor, a boy standing a meter away with a questioning look on his face. He looked to be about Teddy's age, and he was wearing the same colored kilt that all the men in Uncle Oliver's family were wearing.

"Did I scare ye? Sorry bout that. You must be one of the Weasleys, right?"

Lucy couldn't seem to help but mumble her reply, so that he asked her to repeat herself.

"Not supposed to talk to strangers."

"Well after ta-day we'll be kin, now won't we? And I do know you're one of the Weasleys, as you're wearin the same kilt as the rest of your wee cousins. You're not blonde, and you're as pale as milk, so you must be Lucy or Molly. Teddy talks about you lot all the time at school, I'm in Gryffindor too." A thoughtful look came into his warm brown eyes. "And I seem ta remember Teddy sayin something about his cousin Molly liken to talk as much as a magpie, so you're Lucy then, aren't ye? I'm Caleb by the by, Caleb Kincaid."

She didn't recall Teddy ever mentioning this person, but he was right about Molly and she really did have to get back to the others. So taking a deep breath, her cheeks going bright pink with embarrassment, Lucy nodded her head. "I am Lucy. And…uhm…I don't know how to get back to my family."

"No problem, I know the way. Come on then, I'll walk ye down."

Staring at the hand he held out to her Lucy couldn't help but turn as red as her hair. She'd never held hands with an older boy she didn't know, especially one who talked so pretty and already went to Hogwarts!

She had a feeling her daddy wouldn't like it one little bit.

"You're a shy one, that's for sure." Obviously amused by that fact Caleb walked closer, took her hand in his, and then giving it a tug started to head back the way he'd come, grinning as the girl fell into step beside him, blushing all the while.

)

Arms crossed as he leaned against the wall, Ron turned his head to look at Harry. "Just look at him." He began, turning his head to motion towards his older brother, who was deep in conversation with Bill about something. "He's not nervous at all. It's got to be all the time he's spent around dragons. Nothing must scare him anymore." Though it was still annoying, especially since he'd been a stammering mess on his own wedding day. But at least he hadn't had to wear a kilt the way his older brother was, Ron reminded himself. George had made a wiseass comment about Oliver being the girl in the relationship since his future brother in law had been ordered to wear a kilt, aka a skirt by his scary mum. Charlie had knocked his brother upside the head for that one and then volunteered to wear a kilt as well to keep anyone else from insulting his man that way.

Oliver had snogged Charlie's brains out in thanks apparently.

Harry shrugged over how relaxed his brother in law looked, though he was impressed too. "They've been together a decade or so by now, Ron. If this wasn't meant to be I think they would have figured it out already."

"Given all the blows to the heads they've taken over the years I wouldn't be quite so sure." Though there was a grin on Ron's face as he said it, his attention snagged by the sound of his son's laughter.

And turning his head to see what was up Ron couldn't help but shake his head as he watched his son and Lily spin around like tops, obviously getting a kick out of the way their kilts flew up and spun around them like tutus.

Unlike the rest of his male cousins, Hugo seemed to really like wearing a kilt.

It concerned him a little.

Resigned to the fact that his daughter couldn't quite grasp the idea that a lady was supposed to keep her skirt down so that her underpants didn't show, Harry sighed and shook his head, wondering what he'd been thinking when he agreed to watch his daughter while his wife took the boys.

Oh right, he'd been thinking that watching his daughter flash people was better than trying to convince two little boys to behave and wear kilts they really, really hated for the rest of the day.

And both men wanting to distract themselves from their youngest children, Ron and Harry fell back into a discussion about a recent, controversial Quidditch call that they strongly disagreed about.

But they, along with everyone else in the room, came to attention when George entered the room with the statement that SHE was coming five minutes later.

Oliver's mum had apparently finished looking over her son and Angelina and was now on her way to look them over as well.

Praying for his wife's sake that she arrived before Oliver's mum did Harry breathed a sigh of relief when she appeared at his side, breathing hard from having run the whole way. "The boys with Andromeda?" Andromeda had agreed to help ride herd over the children since the majority of the parents would be otherwise occupied.

As he understood it Roxy and Fred were being seated right next to his godson's grandmother, which would insure that the little devils were on their best behavior.

Ginny nodded, slipping her arm through his as she leaned against him. "Yes, thank Merlin. And Teddy's in a kilt so they're okay with being in kilts now too."

"At least they're normal, not wanting to wear the things." Ron told her, looking over at Hugo again.

Typical Ron, Ginny and Harry thought together.

And the three had just enough time to straighten themselves up a little before Oliver's mum stepped into the room, ordering everyone into a line so that she could look them over.

It was rather ridiculous, how quickly they all obeyed her.

In short order she'd fussed over each of them in turn, everyone glad that with the exception of Bill, Percy, and the children they were wearing Quidditch uniforms and not formal attire. Less for Mrs. Wood to straighten and critique, though she found things, like Harry's hair, to sigh and shake her head over. The children took their cheeks being pinched with grace, allowing her to straighten their clothes and quickly reciting their duties when she asked each of them in turn.

They knew their jobs and that the dragon lady would feed them to Nessie if they failed. She hadn't said so, but they'd heard their Uncle George suggest her capable of throwing disobedient wedding party members to the magical creature if given cause.

And while Lily wasn't by nature obedient, she knew when she was dealing with someone she didn't want to mess with.

Feeling rather sorry for his baby girl Harry gave her a quick hug before he and Ginny were due to head out and take their place, Ginny giving the girl a kiss too while Ron rustled Hugo's curls reassuringly. And then all three took their places and started heading out, hoping their children wouldn't be too traumatized while they were briefly out of their sight.

Cousins holding out their closest hand, Lily and Hugo held hands even after Oliver's mother had been escorted out of the room, remaining together until they were told to come, Lily accepting the basket full of flower petals and Hugo the little pillow that held the wedding bands his uncles would soon be wearing.

When they were given their cue they walked out the door and headed up the aisle, passing under the Beater bats all of Charlie and Oliver's former teammates and Quidditch playing family members held aloof to form arches at regular intervals.

Knowing better than to look at anyone Lily threw her flower petals and mentally prayed for her cousin's sake that Hugo didn't trip or drop the rings. He tended to get clumsy when he was nervous.

Those in the front seating did their best not to smile too much when the little girl made a huge sigh of relief when they reached their designated spot without incident, Hugo looking very relieved as well.

)

Glad when everyone sat down so that she could see the front better Domi sighed romantically as she watched the ceremony, no longer interested in evaluating the decorations or what everyone else was wearing. She had eyes only for her two uncles as she watched them exchange vows, holding each other's hands and looking so lovingly at each other. It was the most romantic things she'd ever seen ever.

And they were going to live happily ever after, she thought dreamily, head in her hands as she sighed once more.


	6. Party Fun

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters end up in. Everything else belongs to someone else and that's the way of it.

Note: For anyone who needs a very brief refresher as to who my OCs are, please check out my profile where I have now listed the most used ones with very quick bios.

Party Fun

The food and wedding cakes had been pretty good, but now that he'd eaten his fill James didn't see why he should have to keep wearing the stupid kilt. Teddy had told him all about them earlier, and that had been sorta neat, but he would still much rather wear trousers. Especially, the redhead silently added, since he wasn't to mess up his pleats, which was really hard to do. His mum had already had to fix the stupid thing a couple of times, and he was way too old not to be embarrassed to need her help with his clothes.

"First you had a flower in your hair and now you're wearing a skirt. Aren't you an unusual boy, Mr. Potter."

Whirling around James's eyes went wide as he tilted his head up and up until he was looking into the face of a man he recognized immediately because of the long white hair. "You're that leech guy!"

"I believe I properly introduced myself before."

James thought about that, his face scrunching up in concentration as he tried to remember the guy's name. "It was some kinda bird, wasn't it?" And when the man simply smirked at him the boy glared. "Hey, at least I remembered that much. You named your poor dog 'Dog'!"

"Recently upgraded to Padfoot, though damned if I know why."

"You aren't supposed to say the d word in front of kids!" James's cousin Molly announced, having come over to check on what her younger cousin was doing. He wasn't as bad as Fred and Roxanne, but he still found trouble as fast as Al found chocolate.

Eyeing the redheaded girl, the older man was obviously not the least worried about facing her ten year old wrath. "If you don't like me using that word in front of you then turn around and I'll use it to the back of you."

Gasping, Molly stamped her foot in outrage before spinning around and marching off, a girl on a mission.

Neither boy doubted for a moment she was going to tattle to the first person she knew.

Liking the tall man a lot more now that he'd gotten rid of Molly, who'd no doubt come over the lecture him about how he was supposed to be behaving, James smiled at the guy with sympathy. "If your mum or dad is here she'll find them. She's got the power."

A sad look passed over the formerly amused face. "No. I'm here as someone's date. Unfortunately."

"Unfortunately?"

"My grandmother forced me into it." The two males shared a look of complete understanding. "She doesn't understand that I have no interest in dating."

"I thought big boys like to date girls. You aren't ugly, your hair is pretty and you smell nice, so they must like you."

The chuckle his words caused was rusty with ill use, but visibly lightened Wren's face. "Thank you. And I don't like dating because I'm waiting for someone. She doesn't understand that."

"Who are you waiting for?" James wanted to know, not understanding what the man meant.

"The person worth living for." And seeing that he was confusing the little boy terribly Wren tried to simplify it. "The world can be a very terrible and sad place. I believe-hope, that out there is someone who will make living worth the pain it often causes. I've been told I have that someone, I just…haven't found him yet."

"I don't understand." He hated that.

"Ask your dad then. He'll understand."

"Wren, there you are, come dance with me." Not even noticing James the girl who'd just arrived tugged insistently on his arm. "And don't say you don't dance, I know you can, you just don't like to."

"Yet you're asking me to dance anyway." Was Wren's cool response before agreeing to give into her demand, not wanting to deal with the scene she'd no doubt throw if he didn't. So he bid the redhead he'd been talking to goodbye and let himself be dragged off, thinking it said something when he'd rather hang out with a little kid than someone his own age.

Watching them go James couldn't have said why, but he had the oddest urge to find a toad and drop it down that stupid girl's ugly dress.

)

Wanting to join the dancers that filled the nearby dance floor, Rosie considered trying to rope one of her cousins into dancing with her, but Teddy was the only one who wouldn't ask to be bribed and he was currently dancing rather horribly with some other girl from Uncle Oliver's side of the family. Neither of them knew what they were doing, or if they did they were so embarrassed that they couldn't help but mess up repeatedly.

Since she definitely didn't want her feet stepped on Rosie decided instead to ask the man she could always count on to be willing to dance with her.

"I'd love to." Ron assured his daughter when she asked him to dance, taking her hand and following her out and onto the dance floor. There he spun and dipped her to her heart's content, grinning broadly as she beam and laughed up at him.

"Now if only we just had to spin and dip our wives when we have to dance with them." Harry commented as he came over to join them with Lily in his arms. It was obvious that the little girl was ready to go to sleep but was valiantly fighting the urge since she wanted to stay up and 'dance' with her father some more.

That the 'dancing' consisted of her being held and moved to the beat suited both of them just fine.

"Are you enjoying the party, Rosie?" Harry asked, rubbing his daughter's back with one hand to further soothe her into slumber.

"Uh huh. Though MY wedding is going to be even better."

Ron gave his daughter an indulgent smile. "You're not getting married for a really, really long time, Sweetie. You're too little, and you have to find a good man your Daddy approves of." Which was never, ever going to happen.

"But Daddy, I'm gonna marry Sev. I already decided."

"What? That…you can't marry him! I forbid you from marrying Slytherins, which is exactly what house that boy is headed for. Him and that nasty little cousin of his that picks on Hugo all the time."

The look Rosie aimed in her father's direction was classic Weasley stubbornness. "I'm marrying Sev and you can't stop me."

"Oh I so can, Little Miss Grounded-till-you're-thirty."

Rosie's response was to let go of her father's hands and cross her arms belligerently. "Uncle Harry, tell him he's wrong and I can too!"

"I'm not wrong. Harry, tell her I'm not wrong." Ron gave his best friend a pleading look. "You wouldn't let your daughter marry a Slytherin, right?"

"Not getting married. Stay with mummy and daddy." Lily informed her uncle sleepily. "Boys are dumb."

When Ron continued to look at him Harry couldn't help but smile. "You have to start brainwashing them young. Lily, who's my bestest girl?"

"I'm your bestest girl!" She chirped back immediately, knowing her cue.

"That's my girl. It's all in the repetition and bribes."

"Why can't you think boys are dumb, Rosie? They must eat bugs and tease you, you're all only six years old for Merlin's sake."

"Sev isn't dumb. He's really, really smart. He's almost as smart as Albus, Gellert, and I." That the other two boys were a great deal smarter than her irked quite a bit, but Rosie had long ago decided that as long as she was smarter than Sev she'd be okay with being third smartest in her year.

"Marry Albus then. I like that kid!" Couldn't understand a lot of the things the boy liked to talk about, but at least Al's best friend was tolerable to be around and wasn't likely to end up in Slytherin.

Rosie shook her head. "Uh uh. Albus is going to marry Gellert when they get big. They already decided. I get to come to their wedding, Albus said."

"Harry…."

"Sorry, can't help you."

)

Sitting quietly in his seat, not that he could make any noise on his own anyway, Christopher watched the various people pass him by as he waited for his father to come back. He knew that could be a while, especially since his father's date seemed to be bent and determined to introduce him to every member of her rather large family. He knew her type; she was only interested in his father because he was really rich and handsome.

But then his father tended to be just as shallow so Christopher didn't feel sorry for either of them.

The woman had been nice enough to him, most of his father's women were, but he'd seen the look in her eyes that said she was a little afraid of him. It would be a little over a week until the next full moon, but apparently she wasn't aware of that.

He didn't like being surrounded by so many people, especially since they were all strangers. But on top of that everyone was wearing too many strong scents that made his nose itch and crinkle with distaste. A number of the women in the tent were lucky he'd been raised to be polite or he'd write a number of them strongly worded letters informing them that smelling like musky deer was not attractive.

Amused by the thought he smiled a moment before resigning himself to his continued boredom. There were other kids around, he'd seem some of them, but they tended to get scared by his scars or get frustrated because he couldn't talk to them. He actually understood English pretty good, but writing it was harder.

Deciding to get himself some more punch since two songs had been played without his father leaving the dance floor, Christopher hopped off his seat and started off towards the buffet tables, half way there when a familiar scent happened to catch his notice.

Head immediately whipping in the direction it had come from Christopher's eyes narrowed and he changed course, following his nose as he squeezed through people until finally he caught sight of the person he was looking for, covertly hiding behind one of the pillars holding the tent up as he stared at the blonde girl he'd met at the beach.

It was really her, and she still smelled really, really good. Better than anything he'd ever smelled before.

She was surrounded by other kids though, and she probably wouldn't even remember him if he went over and…well waved hello since he couldn't say it, Christopher thought dejectedly. He could write it, he did have his notebook with him. Plus maybe she would remember him; it wasn't like there were a lot of werewolves out there his age.

And then suddenly her eyes met his and to his amazement she immediately pointed in his direction, jumping up and down so that her blonde hair bounced too before she ran over towards him, throwing her arms around him as soon as she'd reached him.

"Hi, hi! It's you!" Pulling back with a wide grin Domi was thrilled to see she'd been right. "You came to the wedding too? To see me?"

Nodding his head Christopher knew he was blushing, but he couldn't help but smile anyway. She'd remembered him!

Giving a happy little squeal, she'd told all her cousins about meeting a kid like them who was a werewolf too, and now she could introduce him to them and they could all play together and have loads and loads of fun. "We have a table over there just for us kids, with games and stuff to play with." She told him, letting him go but taking his hand so he couldn't get away from her. "You wanna come play with us? My cousins are all really nice and if they aren't I'll get Teddy and he'll yell at them. Well, he won't yell, Teddy never does, but when he's mad at you you feel just awful anyway."

Christopher was in the process of nodding his agreement to come with her when the song that had been playing died off to be replaced by a new one.

"Oh! OH! I love this song. Will you dance with me?"

She didn't really give him much choice, Christopher thought as she began tugging and pulling him towards the dance floor. But it was okay, since his grandfather had made him learn to dance even though girls wouldn't want to dance with him when he got older. So at least he knew what to do, the little boy thought when they'd reached their destination.

Letting go of his hand Domi curtsied, deliriously happy when he bowed very handsomely, just like a prince would.

And then he took her one hand in his and then placed his other on her waist, surprising Domi since apparently they were going to dance like grownups, not like kids!

Blushing at the thought Domi shyly put her hand on his back too and let him move them in a very grown up way around their little part of the dance floor.

She'd definitely found her prince, she decided, beaming at him happily. And she was never letting him go.

)

He remained invisible as he quickly took in his surroundings, cautious by nature and not wanting to get in trouble if he'd shown up at an inopportune time. Tommy didn't quite know what to make of the fact that the girl he'd come to see was currently wearing a pretty dress and sitting in a large, overstuffed chair, apparently watching over a small sea of passed out kids stretched out on strategically placed mattresses around her.

But he figured it was okay for him to show himself, and so he did, becoming visible as he walked towards the pretty house elf he'd met at the park a few weeks ago.

"What are you doing here?" Sassy demanded, shifting to a standing position, her arm out in such a way that suggested she was preparing to blast him out of the room they were in if given cause.

"Just came to see you, Doll. I brought you flowers." He added with a wink, conjuring them up for her. "So you on babysitting duty here?"

Hopping off the chair, her gaze still suspicious, Sassy walked over towards the other elf. "Sassy was asked to watch the children tonight. Sassy won't let anything happen to her little masters and their cousins."

"Relax, Sweet Sassy, I ain't here to cause no trouble, on my honor. My boss's too young for the whole takin over the world thing as yet, and he's too smart to try that again anyway. He's all about Red these days and that suits us all just fine." Still holding out the flowers Tommy gave her his most charming smile. "I really did just stop by to give you these and see your pretty face."

Blushing fiercely Sassy shyly took the flowers, bringing them up to her nose to smell. "Thank you."

Both elves turned their heads at the sound of childish giggling, seeing that some of the children were no longer asleep and therefore aware of what was going on in front of them.

"Sassy's got a boyfriend." Molly whispered to Fred, who really didn't care about the mushy stuff but was intrigued by their unexpected guest.

"He has excellent taste in clothes too. Much better than most house elves." Was Victoire's opinion on the matter, though her sister didn't hear her since she was still fast asleep with her prince's hand still in hers.

Giving the blonde a wink Tommy shook her head. "I ain't no house elf, little one. I'm just an elf. I don't clean and I don't punish myself for talking bad about my boss. Heck, if I did that I'd spend most of my time whacking myself in the head, he's such a scamp. Turned me purple 'accidentally' just last week."

"You sure don't talk like any elf I've ever met." Fred declared, though he had a feeling he was really going to like this one. "You don't say your name when you talk."

"Course not. I leave talking in the third person to Gollum and other house elves."

"Who's Gollum?" Molly demanded to know, not wanting to be kept out of the loop.

"He's a character from a famous Muggle book." Teddy informed them over a yawn as he came into the room, having reached the point where he was ready to go to sleep too. Stiffing another yawn he walked over to the two elves, holding out his hand to the elf he didn't know. "Teddy Lupin. Nice to meet you."

Shaking the hand Tommy grinned at the older boy, liking the fact that the kid's hair was currently blue. He appreciated a guy with interesting fashion sense. "Tommy, nice ta meetcha too. You dig Tolkien?"

"My grandmother enjoys his stories. I've only read 'The Hobbit' myself."

Even though exhaustion was plain on his face Fred asked to hear the story, curious about this Gollum character.

"You all settle back down to rest and I'll tell you all about him. Well, the part where he first meets Bilbo Baggins in a dark, cavernous lake surrounded by caves, anyway." Motioning for Teddy to stretch out too Tommy asked Sassy if she wouldn't mind sharing her chair with him, the house elf shyly agreeing to his request. And while they were taking their seats various siblings shook their own siblings or cousins awake to hear the story too, so that several more sleepy eyes focused on the elf, getting bigger and bigger as the thrillingly scary tale unfolded.


	7. Flower Fun

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters get in. Thanks for reading.

Flower Fun

Walking into the flower shop with his father, Fred kept his hands in his pockets, looking around without a whole lot of interest since he didn't see the appeal of such places. It smelled really girlie to him, and there was nothing around him that he could really play or have some fun with. But he should get used to visiting such places according to his dad, he thought with a sigh. Apparently the men in his family often had to buy gifts for the women in their lives and the sooner he learned how to navigate such shops the better off he'd be.

"So what kind of flower says 'I'm really sorry I accidentally turned your mum into a walrus?' to you, Freddie?" George Weasley asked his son, always happy for a second opinion when it came to these sorts of things. Unfortunately Oliver was still on his honeymoon, so he couldn't ask his new brother in law's opinion on the matter. Oliver was usually pretty good at pointing him in the right direction when it came to Angelina's likes and dislikes.

"Given how mad she is at you…maybe you should buy her one of every flower?"

"Oh I'm well aware of how mad she is, believe me." Last night he'd slept on a cot in his workshop, and had had to go out for breakfast that morning because when he'd tried to enter the kitchen to get something to eat his wife had picked up a frying pan and made it clear that unless he wanted it to connect with his skull he better make like a Malfoy and run.

Looking around them Fred finally pointed to a nearby display. "Mum likes those flowers best. Maybe a bunch of those?"

"Ordinarily yes, but I don't think a huge bouquet of sunflowers is going to get me off the hook this time. I've really got to pay this time, or else."

Personally Fred couldn't see his father getting into his mum's good books any time soon, but he didn't say so for the man's sake. Instead he started to point out other interesting looking flowers, ridiculously grateful when he heard familiar voices behind them.

Yay, Uncle Bill and Louis to the rescue!

"Hey, you two, Louis saw you through the window." Lifting his only son off his shoulders Bill set Louis onto the ground and then came over to ask his little brother why he was buying flowers, correctly assuming that George needed to apologize to someone with them.

Listening in Louis found the whole thing pretty funny, he was only sorry he'd missed it.

Taking pity on his brother Bill rolled his eyes and then asked Louis to stay with his cousin while he helped George start to dig himself out of the grave he'd dug himself.

Louis watched them go and then gave his older cousin a questioning look. "So are you buying Rory's sister's some flowers to try and make her like you too?"

Fred considered that for a moment and then shook his head sadly. "I've given her flowers before and she just chucked em back in my face. She's not like most girls." Which was one of the reasons why he liked her so much. She could punch a guy out, he'd seen her do it when someone was trying to mess with her little brother and steal his lunch. And she didn't freak out over frogs, spiders or worms, even when you waved them in front of her. Yup, Gabrielle Goyle was definitely the girl for him, he just had yet to figure out a way to convince her of that fact.

"You gave her weeds you picked by the fence at school." Louis corrected. And though he thought the dandelions and such were pretty, he had two sisters and a maman who'd taught him well that when you were in trouble and gave flowers, they better come from a shop and not the ground.

"It makes a difference?" Louis was only six after all, how much could the kid really know about this sort of thing?

The look Louis aimed in Fred's direction made it clear that he didn't care for being doubted.

Still wary of wasting his money on something that wouldn't even help his case, Fred walked over to put the question to his Uncle Bill. As far as he knew this uncle hardly ever got into fights with Aunt Fleur, which meant he must know a lot about girls and how to make them keep liking you.

Amused at the question, and well aware of his nephew's history with the Goyle girl, Bill smiled a little as he answered that yes, girls tended to take you a lot more seriously if they knew you'd had to pay for whatever gift you were giving them. Especially the high maintenance ones, he added with a twinkle in his eyes.

Fred didn't know what high maintenance meant, but he was willing to believe now that Louis had known what he was talking about. "Dad, I've got money in my piggy bank. Can you loan me money to buy Gabrielle some flowers? You know where she lives, right?"

Unfortunately he did. And not wanting to crush his son or face off with the girl's father again since getting into a fight with the guy would make things worse, George suggested that they send the flowers to the little girl because that was even more romantic.

Not trusting his father to know what was most romantic, Fred gave his Uncle Bill a questioning look, agreeing when the older man nodded his approval.

Having been listening in quietly Louis waited until Fred and his uncle had turned their attention to debating as to what Gabrielle would like before he moved over to his father's side and gave his papa's trousers a slight tug.

Pulling out what money he had in his pocket Louis held it out. "Papa, is this enough for a rose? I wanna send Rory a flower too. One rose is best, maman said."

Bill had to shake his head, but he took the money from his son and said that yes, it was definitely enough and they'd get Rory's address from George since apparently he knew it already.

"I know Rory's address."

Okay…

"Then let's see about sending your friend a rose, shall we?"

"Yay!"

)

Sitting patiently while Victoire wove flowers into the hair she'd intricately braided for him, Albus wondered absently what his father was going to say when he saw what his only child must look like. Tori said he looked beautiful with flowers in his hair, but somehow he figured his dad would take a different view. He was hoping that Gellert would like it though, the other boy was scheduled to come for a sleepover at his house later on in the day. His mum would be picking him up once she got off work and then they'd go home and Gellert would be coming at four.

"Aren't you done yet?" Domi wanted to know, impatient for her make believe wedding to begin. Albus was going to be her maid of honor, so she did approve of him being made to look as girlie as possible, but she was getting bored waiting for the ceremony to begin. Plus they were using their gran's cat as a groom, and it was only a matter of time before the feline got bored with being held and petted and made a break for it.

Since decorating Domi and Albus's hair was the only fun she was going to get out of watching the little kids Victoire gave her sister a quelling look. "Don't rush me."

Domi thought about rubbing in the fact that their maman had decided to drop them off at their gran's for the afternoon rather than let Victoire watch them at home, but her sister was in a mood and she didn't want to get the dress she was wearing dirty.

"Whiskers isn't going to last much longer." Louis warned them, having been put in charge of 'the groom' by his sisters. He was best man since there was no way he was going to marry his sister, even if it was just pretend.

"And I'm not climbing up the tree to get him again." James warned, having been blackmailed into participating too. If he didn't Domi had threatened to rat him out to gran as to who had helped himself to an extra biscuit at snack time.

"Oh all right." Giving up Victoire added a couple more flowers and then got back to her feet, Albus doing the same. "I'm done. Go play wedding and then we should go inside and get something to drink." If any of them passed out from heat stroke it would be her head on a platter.

"No eating or drinking until after the wedding." Domi reminded them all sternly, wanting this to be as real as possible.

The younger children who'd been conscripted into playing wedding with her assured Domi that they understood and immediately took their places as ordered.

James took his place at the front, having agreed to conduct the ceremony. Louis stood nearby with the groom still in his arms, knowing his life depended upon him keeping the cat around until Domi could take him from her.

Accepting the bouquet handed to him Albus smiled and hummed a pretty tune as he walked up the aisle as maid of honor, Al handing the second bunch of dandelions and daisies to Domi before moving to take her arm as her escort up the 'aisle'.

Once Albus reached the front too the three boys began the wedding song, humming out of key and not completely in unison, but well enough that Domi wasn't cross with them once she'd made her way up to them and handed over her bouquet to Albus so that she could take the cat from her little brother.

And then the exchanging of vows began, the cat now called Christopher Worden since this was who Domi was determined to marry when she got big.

Everyone agreed after it was a lovely ceremony.

)

Arriving at their destination ten minutes early Gellert's mother knew better than to think about killing time walking around the block or finding something to distract her son with. Her baby had been looking forward to this sleepover for two weeks now and now that the day had arrived, well she could hardly remember seeing him so eager and ready to go. He didn't get this happy at Christmas for Merlin's sake.

Of course part of that was that he never got more than a quarter of what he put on his Christmas lists since most of the things he put on it weren't appropriate for someone his age no matter what he seemed to think.

So she hoped they weren't going to inconvenience the Wimbledons and let her son run up to the family's front door, knocking on it firmly.

When it opened Gellert smiled up at Albus's mother charmingly. "Good afternoon, Mrs. Wimbledon. Thank you again for having me."

"You're very welcome." She assured him with a small smile. "And this is good timing, actually. We just got home twenty minutes ago. I got held up at work and when I got to the Burrow to pick Albus up he was in the middle of playing a game of chess with Arthur and wanted to finish it."

"Does Mr. Weasley take being beaten by a six year old in stride?" There wasn't a doubt in her mind that her son's little friend had won the match. She'd seen him play against her own boy and Albus was just as good as Gellert was. Scarily so.

"Albus goes easy on him and draws it out so Arthur isn't completely humiliated by the experience."

The look Gellert's mother sent her son made it clear she wished that he would be just as thoughtful when it came to his opponents. Gellert, regardless of the game, was utterly ruthless and prone to annihilating his opponent as quickly as possible.

"Where is Albus?" Gellert wanted to know, having absolutely zero interest in hanging around and listening them talk about how much smarter he and Albus were in comparison to the adults in their life. He knew that already.

"He's in his room, go on up. Would you like some lemonade before you head home, Felicia ? It's fresh and I've got biscuits to go with it."

"I'd love to."

Leaving them to chat Gellert quickly took off his shoes and hurried up the stairs. He knew the way and he was eager to show Albus the book his father had bought him the week before. The author proved how stupid he was with every sentence and when he'd tried to explain to his parents why he found the book so amusing they hadn't gotten it. Alchemy wasn't their thing. Albus would be able to appreciate the hilarity of such preposterous theories.

Arriving at his best friend's door Gellert knocked and then headed in as soon as he was given the okay, blinking in surprise when he caught sight of his friend's new look when he opened the door. "What did you do to your hair?"

"Do you like it?" Albus asked as he walked over, a fine blush on his cheeks as he fiddled with the end of his braid. "We were playing wedding today."

"You pretended to marry someone?" Gellert's face was a mixture of pique and jealousy at the idea.

Albus shook his head. "No. Domi asked me to pretend to be the groom but I said I could only marry you, even if it was just pretend. She married Whiskers instead and I was maid of honor."

"Oh…well that's okay then. It looks nice, your hair." He added, since he sensed that that was what Albus wanted to hear.

A huge smile and a hug was Gellert's reward for the compliment.

)

At the sound of the doorbell Gabrielle looked up, getting to her feet when she heard her mother call from the kitchen, asking her to get the door because she was in the middle of cleaning and looked a mess. Yelling back that she'd get it and send Rory to get her if she needed to come to the door, Gabrielle motioned for her little brother to come with her and the two headed for the front door.

As she'd been taught Gabrielle looked through one of the thin windows that bookcased the door, not recognizing the man but spotting the flowers in his hands assumed that he was lost and needed directions.

Her father wasn't smart enough to realize when mum was mad at him, much less know to spend money on expensive looking flowers.

Judging it to be safe Gabrielle opened the door, Rory tight at her side just in case. "Can we help you?"

"I'm looking for a Miss. Gabrielle Goyle. Would she be home?"

"I…I'm Gabrielle."

"Oh." Smiling at the little girl the florist retrieved the one rose he'd stuck in the wrapped bouquet for convenience and then handed the flowers to the girl who took them as though in a daze. "There's a card in there too. Is it your birthday, Sweetie?"

Shaking her head Gabrielle didn't even hear her brother tell the man that her birthday was in May, she was too busy staring at the flowers and blushing like mad. She never got flowers, not ever. Well there was that one time Fred Weasley had given her a bunch of weeds, but that didn't count…even if she had picked them up after he'd gone and kept them till they died.

These flowers smelled really, really good.

"Who sent them?" Rory wanted to know, curiosity piqued.

Thinking to be helpful the florist retrieved the small card for her and handed it to her after she'd given her brother the flowers to hold for her, knowing better than to offer to read the card to her. That was a stubborn chin if ever he'd seen one.

Reading the card Gabrielle went bright red, stunned speechless at the card that proclaimed 'Thinking of You, Fred Weasley'.

Having gotten up on tip toes so that he could see Rory didn't know what the first word was, but he knew the other ones. "They're from a boy who likes her." He explained to the florist as he handed the bouquet back to his sister, thinking it would be best for her hands to be occupied just in case.

Doing his best to hide his amusement over the girl's reaction the florist was about to make his goodbyes before he remembered that he still had one more delivery to make to this house. And since the girl had been stunned speechless he asked the boy if a Rory Goyle was also home, assuming the boy had another sister somewhere.

Putting his hand up like he was in school Rory announced who he was.

Well this was certainly turning out to be an interesting delivery, the florist thought as he held out the yellow rose to the obviously very surprised little boy. "Then this is for you, lad."

"Thank you." Not quite sure what to make of this turn of events Rory gave the man a questioning look. "He sent me one too?"

"Oh, no." Shoving a hand into his trouser pocket the florist retrieved the card to go with the rose and handed it over to the boy who broke out into a truly adorable smile when he saw what was written there, a hint of a blush on those chubby cheeks.

"Gabrielle, what's it say?" Rory asked as he held it out to his sister. He knew it was from Louis, the boy had printed his name at the bottom with a heart, but he didn't know the rest of the words.

Reading it automatically, her brain still fried, Gabrielle informed him that it said 'With Love and Affection, Louis'.

"Oh. Thanks for bringing the flowers, Mister."

"You're welcome."

And bidding them both a good afternoon the florist tipped his hat to them and then headed back down the path while the two watched before closing the door behind them, absorbed in the unexpected gifts they'd been given.

"Weasleys…Weasley boys are the weirdest boys ever." Gabrielle declared, still blushing like mad and unaware of how tightly she held her flowers against her chest.

Rory nodded in agreement since it was expected and then suggested they get the flowers into water and then hide them in their rooms so that their father and older brothers didn't see them.

"Good idea."


End file.
